Rice Burgerstravaganza

I have to be honest and admit I've been somewhat uninspired lately when it's come to food. Aside from my multiple ventures into tripe territory, there hasn't been a whole lot I've wanted to eat. That was until yesterday. I had just watched Nicolas Cage's latest magnum opus, "Drive Angry," with friends MacDoggle, Mrs. Winterbottom, Decepticon Sky Commander A (formerly just A), and Lady Bubbleford (formerly unmentioned but now she has a nickname that I assigned to her, yay!). We were hungry, so we headed over to Furaibo as it was one of the few nearby places still open that wasn't named Cinco de Mayo.

Furaibo is known for their tebasaki (wings), which was one of the things I ordered. But Mrs. Winterbottom also ordered buta kakuni. I had forgotten how juicy, how supple, how utterly fatty pork belly could be. Thus the wheels began to turn.

I hadn't made rice burgers in a while, and I quickly conceived of a Japanese-style pulled pork sandwich (Korean and Mexican isn't the only fast food fusion in town). Buta kakuni is always a laborious affair, taking hours of both prep and cooking time. Five hours later I had about five pounds of tender, trembling buta kakuni. I made the rice patties out of a 50/50 combination of white rice and haiga, so that way it would be slightly healthier. To top of the "burger," I made a quick cabbage slaw with steamed sliced cabbage and a sweet soy sauce dressing.

And since I still hadn't kicked my tripe craving (hell, I had Chinese fried pork intestines on Friday), I made a tripas rice burger with some beef intestine I picked up at the Korean market. The intestines themselves took several hours of prep.

Finishing out the trio was the gyutan rice burger I had devised previously.

Overall the meal was a success. The buta kakuni rice burger was excellent, but then again it's hard to deny the fatty, flavor juggernaut that is buta kakuni. The tripas rice burger turned out surprisingly well, with a texture not unlike squid, and a flavor close to a gizzard. The tongue was a little tough, perhaps because I had quick thawed it. I can't really complain when there was buta kakuni available. Maybe some day I'll open up a food truck so people can try these wonderful treats!